1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for restraining and berthing a floating body on the surface of the water such as a floating oil tank, oil tanks, large barge, ship or the like to be fitted to a quay wall for the purpose of holding such a floating body at a given position on the surface of the water.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the case of moving a floating body on the surface of the water to the quay wall, a rectangular pit is provided in the quay wall and the floating body on the surface of the water is moored in the pit. The floating body is moored to the quay wall by means of a rope or the like and is directly supported by a restraining device projected from the quay at a desired position to prevent the floating body from contacting with the quay for the purpose of safely mooring the floating body without damaging it under the influence of high waves and strong wind arising during the berthing of the floating body.
In practice, however, it is impossible to construct the quay wall precisely at a given position. As a result, the restraining device for directly supporting the floating body on the surface of the water is required to be adjustably moved in forward and backward directions by a distance which corresponds to tolerances or unintensional errors produced when the quay wall is constructed.
The means for adjusting the forward and backward position of the above mentioned restraining device, heretofore has been proposed as a hydraulic cylinder or a lift device employing a wire, chain or the like.
Both the hydraulic cylinder and the lift device have the drawback that they could not move the operative part of the restraining device up to the given position. In addition, the hydraulic cylinder could not lock the operative part of the restraining device to the given position. The lift device functions to adjust the forward and backward positions of the restraining device in general through an arcuate motion. As a result, the axial direction of the operative part of the restraining device is not coincident with the direction of operative force of the lift device. As seen from the above discussion, both the hydraulic cylinder and the lift device have the drawback that they could not exhibit sufficiently reliable restraining ability.